Judge sentences Daniel Hyden to 24 years to life for July 4 truck killings

Sentencing in July 4 crash at Corlears Hook Park

Halena Herrera and relatives of three other victims returned to Manhattan court on Friday as a judge sentenced Daniel Hyden to 24 years to life for a July 4 crash at Corlears Hook Park that prosecutors said killed four people.

Judge April A. Newbauer sentenced Hyden after a conviction in a non-jury trial last November of murder, aggravated vehicular homicide and other charges, according to the Associated Press. The sentence followed Hyden’s conviction for the deaths of Ana Morel, 43; Lucille Pinkney, 59; Lucille Pinkney’s son Herman Pinkney, 38; and Herrera’s best friend, Emily Ruiz, 30.

Prosecutors said Hyden was drunk when the Ford F-150 he was driving jumped a curb, bulldozed a chain-link fence and plowed into a group of friends and relatives holding a holiday barbecue at the Manhattan park. The truck stopped just feet from Herrera, with its momentum halted by bodies trapped underneath, prosecutors said, and seven people were hurt, including Herrera, who was hit in the face by debris.

In a statement to reporters after the sentencing, Herrera said the fact that she survived while others died beneath the vehicle remains hard to process. She told reporters, “Learning that the only reason I lived was because four other people were dying under the car is still very hard to deal with.”

Herrera said she felt some measure of justice. “I’m glad that at least now there’s some sense of justice,” she told reporters. She added, “It doesn’t help much. It doesn’t bring anything back, but it’s good to have it over with, so I’m happy for that.”

Courtroom apology and prosecutors’ account

Hyden, 46, from Monmouth, New Jersey, described the crash as an “accident” in his courtroom apology. Standing in a room packed with victims and relatives and about two-dozen officers, Hyden said he was “processing how deeply disturbed and deeply hurt I was and still am” and that he was “still processing the amount of people I hurt with my actions.”

Hyden said he had broken his sobriety after his own sister was killed by a drunk driver in New Jersey in 2021. He also told the court that at the time of the crash in July 2024, he was preparing to speak at that driver’s sentencing.

The case also included testimony about events earlier that night. The crash happened less than an hour after Hyden was refused entry to a nearby party boat and clashed with security, the AP reported. Officers who responded testified they did not witness anything warranting arrest, and that they walked Hyden to a park bench and left.

Prosecutors said Hyden then got behind the wheel and accelerated through a stop sign at 39 mph (63 kph), sped through a construction zone, and zoomed over a sidewalk at up to 54 mph (87 kph) before reaching the park. Prosecutors said Hyden pressed the gas pedal fully and did not hit the brakes until half a second before striking the crowd. They said he tried to put the vehicle in reverse, but witnesses pulled keys from the ignition to stop him.

Hyden’s lawyer suggested a foot injury complicated his driving, according to the Associated Press.

Victims’ families react; district attorney urges against intoxicated driving

After the sentencing, relatives described the punishment as a form of closure. Diamond Pinkney, Lucille Pinkney’s son and Herman Pinkney’s brother, said seeing Hyden sentenced was a “big relief.”

Pinkney said Hyden “knew what he did, he knew the possibility he could’ve caused and he did it.” Pinkney also described Hyden as a substance abuse counselor who wrote a 2020 book about coping with addiction.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement that the prison sentence would not reverse the fatalities, injuries and trauma, but he hoped it would bring comfort to those impacted. In the statement, Bragg also said, “If you are intoxicated, do not get behind the wheel — it risks the lives of others, and you will be prosecuted.”

Herrera and Pinkney both said they want Hyden to remain in prison for life so he does not have another chance to hurt anyone else, according to the AP.

Herrera, who said she is studying to be a therapist, described living with the lasting impact of the crash. She said she has had bouts of depression and struggles with post-traumatic stress, and that the fear of another incident continues to intrude into daily life. “Every day, I’m worried that something else can happen,” Herrera told reporters. She added, “So, now it’s like: Am I going to get hit by a car crossing the street? Is something going to happen to me?”

Dispute over remorse

Herrera said she did not believe Hyden’s expression of remorse. After the sentencing, she scoffed at his apology and told reporters, “He has shown no remorse from the very beginning, so for him to sit there and say that he’s sorry is just — I don’t believe any of it.”